2014 Pass Rush Report - Weeks 9-12

Dallas Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr (39) reacts after sacking Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles during the second half of Dallas' 31-17 win Sunday, November 9, 2014 at Wembley Stadium in London. (G.J. McCarthy/The Dallas Morning News)

Let's spend a little time talking about blitzing.  And to do that best, we must start at the start.

The Dallas Cowboys (at least as currently coached) do not believe in blitzing.  They don't like doing it.  They don't want to do it.  They don't ever want to rely on it.  They don't believe in it.

Once upon a time, that was different.  But, since I have been carefully tracking their blitzes, you can tell that with Rod Marinelli in charge, they have tried to make it less and less a part of their attack.

In fact, here is a handy graphic to demonstrate this point:

Season	Blitzes	Blitz Rate	QBRate v Blitz	NFL Blitz Rate
2012	134 - 551	24%	106.5 - 29th	31%
2013	140 - 673	20%	117.4 - 32nd	28%
2014	109 - 527	20%	101.6 - 26th	32%

Some defenses thrive on it, and it works for them.  We should not assume it doesn't work because it wins divisions and Super Bowls.  But, the Cowboys are part of a growing list of teams that would rather leave the rolling of the dice to the Ryan family, and stay in the inviting waters of rushing 4 and dropping 7 into zones.  In fact, in 2014 the Cowboys were an amazing 12% the league average, which means that they would have had to blitz 60 more times to simply become a league average blitz team based on the 527 passes against.  If the opponent would have thrown as many times as they did in 2013, they would have needed 106 more blitzes!  So, by NFL standards, they don't blitz.

But, as you can see above, it is best that way.  Over the last 3 seasons, they have been one of the worst defensive teams in football when they do blitz.  What is the best way to keep teams from bringing pressure?  Burn their hands.  And in the last 3 years, the Cowboys have never held the opposition under a 100 passer ranking and have never finished in the Top 25 teams for a season.  Yuck.

The chart below shows how the Cowboys bring pressure:

On 1st down, they are over 80% in 4-man-or-less rushes.  On 2nd down, they actually, blitz the most (22%) and on 3rd down, where teams do blitz, the Cowboys don't, just at 15%.

They want to "get there with 4" and are actually twice as likely to rush just 3 as they are to bring a "big blitz" - defined as 6 or more rushers.  During the entire season, the Cowboys rushed 6+ on just 17 occasions in 16 games.  They do not do it.

So, this goes back to the essays in Part 1 and Part 2 of this study which I recommend you read if you have missed them.  The additions of DeMarcus Lawrence, Randy Gregory, and Greg Hardy should work wonders for this premise.  They should be able to get there with 4 more often and get more sacks.  And when they do - now that they appear to have the horses to do so - the coverage situations will only improve.

But, remember, blitzing is not the answer for the Cowboys to get pressure.  They end up cooked in the back when they try that.

Now, let's look at Part 3 of the season - basically, November, and break down the sacks they did get.  After 10 sacks in the first 8 weeks, the defense broke out with 9 sacks in the next 4 games.  Here they are:

First a disclaimer:  The analysis below is not meant to be exhaustive for each play.  There is context that could require massive write-ups on each sack, but in the interest of time, let’s do this short and sweet.  I will try to identify the nuts and bolts on each sack, but sometimes, it will be a guess as we do not know specific calls.  We are trying to get this right, but invariably, some of you will see the same play and reach a different conclusion.  Cool? 

Sack #11

Sack	Opp	Q/Time	D/D/Yd	Rush	Sack
#11	ARZ	1/12:12	2/5/46	4	69-Melton

This is the final game where Henry Melton was a dominating presence, but through 9 weeks, I will be the first to confess that I thought they found a guy who would be here for a long, long time.  Here he lines up at the 3-technique outside of LG 62-Ted Larsen.  He fakes to the B-Gap and hops inside to the A-Gap with such speed and precision that Larsen barely touches him and the Carson Palmer has no chance.  Just a brilliant job on this sack by the former Longhorn RB.

Sack #12

Sack	Opp	Q/Time	D/D/Yd	Rush	Sack
#12	ARZ	4/12:02	3/13/24	4	69-Melton

This is a cool tackle "game" where the inside tackles - 69 Melton and 98 Crawford - are the two nickel rushers who work together.  This is preceded with the two nickel backs - 55-McClain and 32-Scandrick - "sugaring" the double A-Gap blitz.  This requires a fair amount of timing their bluff, and then bailing into their zones at the proper time.  Get this wrong and this could be a major problem.   Watch Crawford make sure he gets the RG, C, and LG, to allow Melton to come around the corner with nobody on him.  Sack credit is never fair, and in this case, Crawford did 95% of the work for no credit and Melton gets the sack for his teammate's effort.

Sack #13

Sack	Opp	Q/Time	D/D/Yd	Rush	Sack
#13	JAC	2/10:45	3/7/29	6	92-Mincey

Ok, the Cowboys blitzed 6+ on only 17 occasions in 2014.  Well, here is one of them.  And this one looks like a overload zone blitz when 93-Spencer drops into a shallow zone.  But, usually, when the Cowboys run that, they don't bring a man off the weak side (42-Church).  So, I might need to ask for help on identifying what exactly this is in the Marinelli playbook.  Regardless, Jeremy Mincey whips Aggie LT 76-Luke Joeckel around the edge and beats Church to the QB for a wonderful show of Mincey's edge ability.  Heading into 2015, Mincey will be overlooked by fans, but don't sleep on his pass rush.

Sack #14

Sack	Opp	Q/Time	D/D/Yd	Rush	Sack
#14	JAC	3/2:18	3/7/43	5	39-Carr

Here is a zone overload blitz from the left.  See the RDE Mincey bail out into the zone on the right.  But, then see them bring numbers from the left and the idea there is to only rush 5 (with a 3-3 zone behind them), but bring them all from the same side to out-number the right side of the OL.  You can see 69-Melton and 93-Spencer run a stunt and occupy the RT and RG and this allows 39-Brandon Carr to crash in and pick up the only sack of his 7-year career.  Why would they expect Carr to rush?  Carr rushed 3 times all year (according to profootballfocus), so count it a rarity to see him head to the QB, but a man who was drafted in 2008 gets his only sack in his only game in England and no doubt campaigned to be turned loose again in the future.

Sack #15

Sack	Opp	Q/Time	D/D/Yd	Rush	Sack
#15	JAC	4/14:48	1/10/43	4	58-Crawford

Not sure what Blake Bortles is doing here.  It is 1st and 10, and it seems like he had time.  But, then his eyes drop, his C can't hold off Jack Crawford any longer after the RG leaves and the sack happens as Bortles runs into it.  Crawford is still in the mix for this team, although now he is buried with the influx of new DEs,  Nevertheless, he shows here he can line up at DT and if he can show a special teams value, might still be able to make the team.

Sack #16

Sack	Opp	Q/Time	D/D/Yd	Rush	Sack
#16	JAC	4/3:20	1/10/46	6	53-C Lawrence

Here, Rod Marinelli smells blood, Jacksonville wants to get out of Wembley Stadium, and Blake Bortles has about had it. Rod calls in another 6 man pressure and on first down, no less.  Here is Cam Lawrence, a reserve LB who only had a chance to rush a QB 6 times all year, lock horns with TE Nic Jacobs.  Jacobs was given a positive grade by PFF for this game in pass protection, but I might beg to differ if Cam Lawrence is swimming past you for a sack.  Bortles again runs into it a bit, but the Cowboys were stat padding in London on this day.  Good for them.

Sack #17

Sack	Opp	Q/Time	D/D/Yd	Rush	Sack
#17	NYG	2/2:00	2/8/37	4	99-Selvie

In this Week 11 matchup, the Giants were starting a backup RT 74-Geoff Schwartz instead of young Justin Pugh.  Well, George Selvie made him look like a reserve by taking him up the field, spinning all the way around and closing down Eli Manning with great ease.  A most impressive closing by Selvie who is now a member of the Giants defensive line rotation.  He showed plenty of moments like this as a Cowboy, but his 2013 far exceeded his 2014.

Sack #18

Sack	Opp	Q/Time	D/D/Yd	Rush	Sack
#18	NYG	2/1:56	3/14/41	4	92-Mincey

Here is the very next play against the Giants.  It is another tackle-end stunt where the ends are trying to knock the guards out of the way so the DTs can come around the corner.  But, Mincey hits the LG so hard that when the LT 65-Beatty goes to get 96-Hayden, Mincey has nobody in his way to go destroy Eli again, and grab yet another sack.  Crawford and Selvie on the other side had some success, but here again is that non-stop motor of Jeremy Mincey.

Sack #19

Sack	Opp	Q/Time	D/D/Yd	Rush	Sack
#19	PHI	2/14:26	1/10/31	4	98-T Crawford

Finally, here is one of the very few bright spots from Thanksgiving Day.  There wasn't really much to choose from.  But, on this play, Tyrone Crawford provided yet another highlight moment when he ran through the RG of the Eagles, 66-Andrew Gardner, tossed him aside, and then closed down QB Mark Sanchez and knocked the ball loose.  As that day went, the Eagles recovered that fumble, but Crawford finally notched his first sack of 2014.  He would end the season with 3 sacks - all against the Eagles.  As dominating as he was at times, that sack total won't shout his quality league-wide, but perhaps 2015 is the year where he will have the gaudy total that will get him more attention outside of DFW.

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So, 12 games into the season, the Cowboys had 19 sacks and ranked 28th in the league.    Next time, we will finish out the regular season before we check out the playoffs as well.  But, it is all cast against the idea that the Cowboys have stocked up with pass rush threats who can beat their men for sacks.  Hardy, Lawrence, and Gregory will join Mincey and Crawford and likely as they grow continue to move the Cowboys up the ranks of the NFL pass rush teams without needing blitzes.

In other words, they should be more equipped to "get there with 4."

A Breakdown of RB Lance Dunbar

http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/2015/07/sturm-a-breakdown-of-the-weapon-lance-dunbar.html/

2014 Cowboys Inactives

Cowboys Inactives -

Week	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Wk 1 SF	10 Vaughan	56 Toomer	58 Crawford	71 Hawkins	75 Weems	93 Spencer	97 McClain
Wk 2 TEN	10 Vaughan	52 Durant	66 Bishop	71 Hawkins	75 Weems	93 Spencer	95 Edwards
Wk 3 STL	10 Vaughan	20 Patmon	52 Durant	55 McClain	60 Coleman	71 Hawkins	93 Spencer
Wk 4 NO	10 Vaughan	20 Patmon	56 Toomer	60 Coleman	71 Hawkins	95 Edwards	97 McClain
Wk 5 HOU	10 Vaughan	54 Carter	56 Toomer	60 Coleman	66 Bishop	71 Hawkins	95 Edwards
Wk 6 SEA	10 Vaughan	23 Hamilton	54 Carter	58 Crawford	60 Coleman	66 Bishop	71 Hawkins
Wk 7 NYG	10 Vaughan	23 Hamilton	54 Carter	58 Crawford	60 Coleman	68 Free	71 Hawkins
Wk 8 WAS	10 Vaughan	23 Hamilton	57 Smith	58 Crawford	60 Coleman	68 Free	71 Hawkins
Wk 9 ARZ	9 Romo	23 Hamilton	56 Dobbins	58 Crawford	60 Coleman	65 Leary	68 Free
W10 JAC	10 Vaughan	23 Hamilton	56 Dobbins	60 Coleman	67 Hills	71 Hawkins	98 Crawford
W11 NYG	10 Vaughan	20 Patmon	23 Hamilton	67 Hills	71 Hawkins	95 Brent	97 McClain
W12 PHI	10 Vaughan	20 Patmon	38 Heath	56 Watson	67 Hills	71 Hawkins	95 Brent
W13 CHI	10 Vaughan	20 Patmon	38 Heath	56 Watson	67 Hills	71 Hawkins	90 Lawrence
W14 PHI	10 Vaughan	23 Hamilton	56 Watson	67 Hills	71 Hawkins	79 Boatright	95 Brent
W15 IND	10 Vaughan	23 Hamilton	56 Watson	68 Free	71 Hawkins	79 Boatright	95 Brent
W16 WAS	10 Vaughan	23 Hamilton	55 McClain	56 Watson	68 Free	71 Hawkins	95 Brent
WC DET	10 Vaughan	23 Hamilton	57 Smith	58 Anderson	68 Free	71 Hawkins	79 Boatright
DIV GB	10 Vaughan	57 Smith	58 Anderson	68 Free	71 Hawkins	79 Boatright	97 McClain

1/10	Jakar Hamilton Waived, No Recall (waived, no recall). Ken Bishop Free Agent Signing (free agent signing).
12/30	Henry Melton Reserve/Injured (reserve/injured). James Anderson Free Agent Signing (free agent signing).
12/24	James Anderson Waived, No Recall (waived, no recall).
12/13	Kenneth Boatright Free Agent Signing (free agent signing).
12/8	Micah Pellerin Waived, No Recall (waived, no recall).
	Keith Smith Free Agent Signing (free agent signing). Jack Crawford Reserve/Injured (reserve/injured).
11/22	Micah Pellerin Free Agent Signing (free agent signing). Davon Coleman Waived, No Recall (waived, no recall).
11/20	James Anderson Free Agent Signing (free agent signing).
11/18	James Anderson Waived, No Recall (waived, no recall).
11/14	Dekoda Watson Free Agent Signing (free agent signing). Keith Smith Waived, No Recall (waived, no recall).
11/11	Dekoda Watson Waived, No Recall (waived, no recall). Tim Dobbins Waived, No Recall (waived, no recall). Josh Brent Suspension Lifted by Commissioner (suspension lifted by commissioner).
11/1	Lavar Edwards Waived, No Recall (waived, no recall).
10/29	Justin Durant Reserve/Injured (reserve/injured). Tim Dobbins Free Agent Signing (free agent signing).
10/18	Ken Bishop Waived, No Recall (waived, no recall). Keith Smith Free Agent Signing (free agent signing).
10/17	Lavar Edwards Free Agent Signing (free agent signing).
10/15	Lavar Edwards Waived, No Recall (waived, no recall). Tony Hills Free Agent Signing (free agent signing).
10/6	Keith Smith Waived, No Recall (waived, no recall).
10/3	Morris Claiborne Reserve/Injured (reserve/injured).
9/29	Jakar Hamilton Suspension Lifted by Commissioner (suspension lifted by commissioner). Jakar Hamilton Exempt/Commissioner Permission (exempt/commissioner permission).
9/23	Brian Clarke Waived, No Recall (waived, no recall). Kerry Taylor Waived, No Recall (waived, no recall). Lavar Edwards Free Agent Signing (free agent signing).
9/20	Lavar Edwards Waived, No Recall (waived, no recall).
9/17	Darrion Weems Reserve/Injured (reserve/injured). Orlando Scandrick Suspension Lifted by Commissioner (suspension lifted by commissioner).
9/16	James Anderson Free Agent Signing (free agent signing).

2014 Pass Rush Report - Weeks 5-8

Tennessee Titans prepare to snap the ball as Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Nick Hayden (96) and teammates fire off the line of scrimmage on a point after touchdown attempt during the second half of play at LP Field in Nashville on Sunday, September 14, 2014. Dallas Cowboys defeated the Tennessee Titans 26-10. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)

Perhaps the top priority of the Cowboys this offseason was to improve their pass rush.  This, of course, can materialize in a number of ways, but dumping investment in to the defensive side of the roster has been the focus of the organization since it last played a meaningful game.

As we know, the Cowboys have taken several very impressive steps in that direction.  The signing of Greg Hardy was certainly controversial, but there is no question that after studying his work in 2013 - which you can read here if you missed it back in March - that he is the best pass rusher this organization has seen since DeMarcus Ware was in his prime.  We still don't know how many games he will play with the Cowboys this year, but when he does step on the field, there is every reason to believe that you will see a monster coming off the line and causing damage.

Then, they were able to get Randy Gregory in the draft late in the 2nd round.  The Cowboys had him as a Top 5 talent in this draft, but were reluctant to sign up to deal with his issues in Round 1 when they had a better option.  But, at pick #60, they were beside themselves to cement the 1-year Hardy signing with a young, impressive player that might be able to be a major 10-sack threat starting in 2016 - provided he can keep on the right path.

Then, the 2nd round pick from 2014, DeMarcus Lawrence is also a player who first stepped on the field in Week 9 against Arizona.  He played 233 snaps in the regular season - 8th most amongst Cowboys' DL - due to a foot injury in training camp.  He did not make major impressions until the post-season when he was able to account for a sack in each playoff game.

So, as we examine the pass rush of 2014, we are going to identify the issue that the Cowboys were facing, knowing that they have already addressed it.

That issue is that the Cowboys - more than almost any team in football - were trying to rush the passer in 2014 without a lead dog.  The elite pass rusher is as important as a lead wide receiver is to your passing attack.  Either you have a special player that requires special attention to a unit or you don't.  And if you don't, then your defense lacks real teeth.  From there, you either have to try to trick with scheme, address the issue with more troops (which means less in coverage), or hope.  And, honestly, the team tried a little of all of that in 2014.

So much of a pass rush requires a lead guy.  A guy who can beat his man consistently enough that offenses take that away with double teams.  Then, the double team provides massive opportunity for others and it all works in concert.  But, without a lead dog, you are without a major pass rush.  And as we said last week, the team required 21 pass attempts for every sack, which is some of the worse production in the NFL.

Here is how the concept of "lead dog" looks on a chart.  If you took the last 25 Cowboys seasons and just charted the sack total of your sack leader, you can see clearly when the Cowboys had a #1 rusher and when they did not.

From 2006-2012, DeMarcus Ware was the sack leader each year.  You can see above how clearly he showed his quality and paved his way to Canton.  Amazingly, he has many local critics who wanted more from him, but I believe that was mostly from overall franchise frustration.  His pass rush production takes a back-seat to almost nobody in this era or in the history of this franchise.  Also, notice the Charles Haley era back in the dynasty time where - along with the under-rated Tony Tolbert, the Cowboys could always put pressure on the opposing QB.

But, beyond that, we can see that in 25 years, the Cowboys never had the 10-sack production from their sack leader.  And in general, if you don't have a sack leader who scares anyone, you don't have a pass rush that does, either.  Haley did it twice, Ware did it seven times, Tolbert once, and Jason Hatcher careered in 2013 (thanks to Ware, in part) as well.  And that is it.  We throw the term "10-sack guy" around like it is a normal accomplishment in the NFL.  The Cowboys show us it is not.  Jeremy Mincey led the Cowboys in 2014 with 6.  16 teams - half the NFL - did not have a "10-sack guy" in 2014.

But, now, with Hardy (who has already been past 10 sacks twice), Gregory, and Lawrence, the hope is that the Cowboys have 3 guys who each might get to 10-sacks in a season, sometime in the very near future for Dallas.

That is the hope.

Now, on to part 2 of our 5 part series, studying the Cowboys sacks from last year.  This week we cover October (Weeks 5-8) and games against Houston, Seattle, New York, and Washington.  Unfortunately, there were 2 games in which they had 0 sacks at all - Houston and New York.  So here are the 5 they did get:

First a disclaimer:  The analysis below is not meant to be exhaustive for each play.  There is context that could require massive write-ups on each sack, but in the interest of time, let’s do this short and sweet.  I will try to identify the nuts and bolts on each sack, but sometimes, it will be a guess as we do not know specific calls.  We are trying to get this right, but invariably, some of you will see the same play and reach a different conclusion.  Cool? 

Sack #6

Sack	Opp	Q/Time	D/D/Yd	Rush	Sack
#6	SEA	1/12:30	2/9/33	5	TEAM SACK

So, in Part 1 of this series, we showed you the 5 sacks from September and you noticed that one of them was a Saints botched punt-fake that went for a sack.  This one is even cheaper, as Russell Wilson is running with the ball (with nothing but open field in front of him) when he knocks the ball out of his own hands with his thigh.  This goes down as an official sack, believe it or not.  It is credited as a "Team Sack" and the ball goes back to where he knocked it loose.  But, there is literally, nothing for us to see here, save for 92-Mincey at least flushing Wilson out by swimming inside the LT 76-Okung.  But, from there, it looks like Mincey was supposed to have "contain" and that Wilson might have gained 25 yards here if luck did not save the day.

Sack #7

Sack	Opp	Q/Time	D/D/Yd	Rush	Sack
#7	SEA	1/0:43	3/12/45	4	99-Selvie

This one is legitimate,  with the front 4 looking just like it should.  In a 4 vs 5 pass rush, the two inside DTs 69-Henry Melton and 98-Tyrone Crawford are threatening enough to draw G-C-G attention.  This, gives each edge guy a 1-on-1 trip to the backfield.  93-Anthony Spencer on the far left and 99-George Selvie on the far right.  As you can see, Spencer gets around the RT 68-Britt and flushes Wilson into the waiting arms of Selvie and Crawford.  They gave Selvie the sack here, one of only 3 he would have in 2014, but this is an example of what a 4-man rush should be able to do.  Then, with 7 in coverage, the Cowboys can zone up and make Wilson hold the ball longer, which allows the rush to get there.  Good stuff.  We just didn't see it often enough.

Sack #8

Sack	Opp	Q/Time	D/D/Yd	Rush	Sack
#8	WAS	2/9:41	3/13/41	4	69-Melton

Here is a play early in the Redskins game where they tried that QB rollout right, off a zone run fake to the left.  It isn't technically "naked", as they asked 12-Andre Roberts to get in 99-George Selvie's way, but Roberts weighs 195.  Here, you can see Selvie's best attribute - he runs plays down really well for a DE.  Colt McCoy quickly sees he isn't out-running Selvie, so he puts on the brakes, and tries to cut inside and that is where Rolando McClain and eventually Henry Melton are there to clean up the mess.  As we do the study, you can see that in many sack situations, the guy who gets credit for the sack is not the guy doing most of the work.  Melton is rewarded for running down the play, though, as the run fake put him on the opposite numbers and he chased all the way across the field to get involved.

Sack #9

Sack	Opp	Q/Time	D/D/Yd	Rush	Sack
#9	WAS	4/6:07	1/10/42	4	69-Melton

Now, this is just the opposite of what we showed on the last sack.  This is Melton just whipping the Redskins RG 66-Chris Chester.  Melton is just too quick on the inside for Chester off the snap and fires through the B-Gap to get home and get a nice sack.  Now, you can see in the pre-snap that the Cowboys are "sugaring" a blitz from all 3 of their shallow zone guys in the nickel defense, 32-Scandrick, 55-McClain, and 52-Durant.  This gets Washington to account for them and that distraction might have been enough to present Melton with his initial daylight off the snap.  The threat of a blitz is sometimes just as valuable as a blitz itself.  The only issue is that those guys have to turn and drop very quickly when the ball is snapped so they aren't exposed underneath by a quick throw.  Plays like this make me wish we had another year of Melton here.  I don't fully grasp why he was not an option to stay since the offer from Tampa was so small (1-year, $3.75m, with only $1m guaranteed).  He is only 28 and it isn't like there is great depth at DT.

Sack #10

Sack	Opp	Q/Time	D/D/Yd	Rush	Sack
#10	WAS	4/2:16	3/10/37	4	92-Mincey

Finally, this is one of the most "clutch" sacks of the season.  It is 17-17, the Redskins face a 3rd and long.  Tony Romo is up and ready (we thought at the time) to return to win the game.  If the Cowboys can get a stop, this could be a massive moment.  Now, watch 92-Mincey against the great Redskins LT, 71-Trent Williams.  Behold, the only sack Williams gave up in the first 12 Washington games of the season.  Look at Mincey walk him back, discard him, and close down the QB all by himself.  It is one thing to do this, but it is quite another to do this 58 minutes into a tie game and to get a massive stop for your team.  That was Mincey's signature moment in 2014 for me.

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At the halfway point of 2014, the Cowboys had just 10 sacks in 8 games.  Luckily, in the 2nd half of the season, they would have 18 more.  We begin studying those next week, with a look at Weeks 9-12 and games against Arizona, Jacksonville, New York, and Thanksgiving Day with the Eagles.